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<title>A Bat in Starling City by Stand_with_Ward_and_Queen</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27643414">A Bat in Starling City</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stand_with_Ward_and_Queen/pseuds/Stand_with_Ward_and_Queen'>Stand_with_Ward_and_Queen</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Arrow (TV 2012), Batman - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Killing monsters doesn't make you a monster, Moral Ambiguity, Not Batman friendly, Not Canon Compliant, Other</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 19:28:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>755</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27643414</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stand_with_Ward_and_Queen/pseuds/Stand_with_Ward_and_Queen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Shortly after his return home and beginning his crusade, Oliver has to contend with a vigilante from Gotham interfering with his plans.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>30</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Bat in Starling City</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phillipe363/gifts">Phillipe363</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Something I had to get out. This takes place in no specific point during season one of Arrow.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Starling City<br/>Night</p><p>Oliver, dressed in his suit, stood in a warehouse, staring across the room. Tied to a stone pillar a few feet away was a man dressed like a bat.</p><p>He had been on his way to the next target on the list when suddenly; this man had gotten the jump on him. He was skilled, and trained, as he’d managed to disarm Oliver of his bow. However, the man was also arrogant, believing Oliver would be helpless without his bow. His surprise had probably been the only thing that had allowed Oliver to regain his bow and send the man into some trash cans, knocking him out.</p><p>Oliver had heard rumors of a man in a batsuit in Gotham but had not taken them seriously. After all, Gotham was full of crazies. Looks like he was wrong.</p><p>With a grunt, the man in the batsuit came to. He tried to move but found he was bound to the pillar with iron cables. Then he saw Oliver.</p><p>“So, you’re the big bad Batman,” Oliver said sarcastically.</p><p>“And you’re the Starling City Vigilante. They call you The Hood, it’s a horrible codename,” Batman said mockingly.</p><p>“What are you doing in my city?” Oliver demanded.</p><p>“Saving it,” Batman growled.</p><p>“Really? Because why haven’t you come to save it before now then?” Oliver demanded.</p><p>“It didn’t have to deal with you then,” Batman sneered.</p><p>“And what is it that I’ve done that warrants a visit from the Batman?” Oliver demanded.</p><p>“You’re a murderer,” Batman snarled.</p><p>“People die in this city every day. You haven’t had a problem with that until me. Instead of wasting your time on me, you could actually be trying to help this city,” Oliver said angrily.</p><p>“I am,” Batman snarled.</p><p>“By stopping me, right? Did you ever notice that the people I kill are usually shooting at me? Or that I only kill when necessary?”  Oliver demanded.</p><p>“It is never necessary to kill. There is always another way,” Batman insisted and Oliver fought the urge to laugh.</p><p>“The fact that you actually believe that shows how arrogant and naïve you actually are.  Sometimes, there is no third option, it is kill or be killed. The world isn’t separated into good people and murderers; it’s more complicated than that. Only an extremist deals in such absolutes,” Oliver said angrily. </p><p>“Only a murderer would say that,” Batman said, trying to reach for his utility belt.</p><p>“Looking for this?” Oliver said as he held up the belt. “Did you honestly think I would keep it on you before I tied you up? Not everyone you go up against is going to lack common sense.”</p><p>“I will stop you. No matter what it takes, I will stop you,” Batman growled.</p><p>“No, you won’t,” Oliver said confidently.</p><p>The sound of high heels was heard as a woman in a business suit walked up next to Oliver.</p><p>“Good evening Mr. Wayne, my name is Amanda Waller. I’m the Director of an organization called Argus,” Waller said, fighting the smirk that threatened to cross her face as Batman stiffened. “Were you truly arrogant enough to think you could keep your identity a secret? Your playboy act may fool the dimwitted socialites and the media, but those with any common sense can see through it.”</p><p> “What do you want?” Batman growled.</p><p>“You are interfering in the operations of an agent of Argus,” Waller said as she looked over at Oliver before glancing at Batman. “Not to mention your activities in Gotham have nearly compromised Argus operations more than once. You are a wild card Mr. Wayne, one we can no longer allow to operate unsupervised.”</p><p>“I will never work for you,” Batman growled.</p><p>“I know. But you have people you care about: Alfred Pennyworth, Lucius Fox, Leslie Thompkins,” Waller listed and Batman stiffen. “Shall I go on?”</p><p>“What do you want?” Batman repeated lowly.</p><p>“You will return to Gotham. You will go about your usual activities but you will answer to me now. Should you go after my operative again or interfere in Argus matters again, the people you care about will suffer the consequences. Even you can’t protect them from us, despite your best efforts,” Waller said before turning to Oliver. “You may go.”</p><p>Oliver nodded, turning to walk out of the warehouse. He hated to rely on Waller for this, but she owed him a favor. And he could not afford to let some self-righteous billionaire with the complex of an extremist stop him from saving his home.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Something like this has been building up for a while if I’m honest. I love Batman, I do, but I cannot for the life of me stand the modern age Batman. And there are a million reasons why, but the biggest one has to be the no kill rule.</p><p>Now, I completely understand why Batman does not kill, he said it himself, that if killed just once, he would never be able to stop. And that’s okay; Batman is an all or nothing kind of guy and knows his limits. Him not killing is not a problem. Rather, it’s how he goes about it.</p><p>It’s long since been established that Arkham security sucks. Batman’s rogue’s gallery keep escaping and the body count keeps rising. Several people have tried to stop people like the Joker and Batman actually protects Joker from them. In a recent comic strip, Jason Todd killed the Penguin for having a hand in his father’s death and Batman beat Jason within an inch of his life. And some years ago, Maxwell Lord had control over Superman and was making him beat Batman to death. Under the Lasso of Truth, Maxwell Lord admits to Wonder Woman that the only way to stop this was to kill him, which she does. Batman condemns her despite their literally being no other way.</p><p>Batman not killing is one thing, but him protecting his villains from death, even reviving Joker via Lazarus Pit and CPR on two separate occasions, is another. At a certain point, Batman becomes complicit in their crimes because he saves their lives and allows the endless cycle of death to continue when he could have just as easily stop it. Batman is more concerned with the supposedly having the moral high than the people he’s supposed to be protecting. </p><p>The excuses Batman uses that ‘it only takes one’ or ‘we become no better than them’ to justify the no kill rule is just laughable at this point. If I hypothetically went out and killed, for an example, Hitler, that doesn’t mean the next day I’m going to wake up as The Punisher. DC has, over several decades, brainwashed its audience into believing that the world is separated into killers and heroes, but that’s not how the world works. The world is filled with grey, if you kill a monster, that doesn’t make you a monster. That kind of mindset is only used by children or extremists. </p><p>A popular argument used by Batman fans who support the no kill rule is that the number of murders would not change if someone killed the Joker. Maybe that’s true, but the number of victims would go down drastically.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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